BiographyMajor Work

African American LiteratureBy Brian Moon

Achebe was born in Igbo village of Nneobi in November 16th of 1930.

Achebe’s parents were culturally preservative but believed in Christianity.

The family moved to Isaiah Achebe's ancestral village of Ogidi.

He was educated by his father during his college life.

Igbo culture are the customs, practices and traditions of the Igbo people of southeastern Nigeria.

These customs and traditions include the Igbo people's visual art, music and dance forms, as well as their attire and languages.

Because of their various subgroups, the variety of their culture is heightened further.

they speak Igbo, which includes various Igboid languages and dialects

Before British colonialism, the Igbo were a politically fragmented group. Various subgroups were set according to clan, lineage, village affiliation

There was no kingship customs

In 1936, Achebe entered St Philips' Central School.

At the age of twelve he enrolled as a student at the Central School, where his older brother John taught.

During his high school life he learned to use English.

Attended the first University in Nigeria. He majored in English, Theology and

history. During his college life he began to be

critical about European literature.

• Things Fall Apart• No Longer At Ease• Arrow of God

• Published in 1958• Tried to inform the outside world about Igbo culture and traditions• Reminded his own people of their past, • Worried because Africans were already accepting the European’s jugment

that Africa had no history or culture worth remembering.• Language: Simple, easy to read, but dignified • Tried to show Igbo “tongue” by adding words in the language

• Theme: • (ani) Sample:• -Struggle between change and tradition• -Importance of social stability

Published in 1960 Preceded by Things Fall Apart Second book of “African Trilogy” Story about Okonkwo when he departed to England for education Okonkwo tries to understand English culture, but the English kept on

humiliating and ignoring him. -correspond with what would happen in colonialism in future. Theme:

-Difficulty to understand different cultures and traditions -Post-colonialism; how it slowly came to Africa.

Theme: -Difficulty to understand different cultures and traditions -Post-colonialism; how it slowly came to Africa.

Published in 1964 Last edition of “The African Trilogy” Involve Ezeulu, the chief priest of Nigerian villages

Shows how introduction of Christianity affected Africa’s original religion

http://www.wmich.edu/dialogues/texts/arrowofgod.html

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Summary about Achebe

Achebe was born in 1930, in one of Igbo towns in Nigeria. His parents were pretty rich, rich enough to provide him with full education. With help from his parents, he was able to speak English and studied more about history in his college years. He then in 1958, he published his work, “Thing Fall Apart.” This book has been read by many people around the world because of its informative and concise contents about African culture. He continued published two other books of “The African Trilogy.” He got many awards, including Nobel Prize, and he is still working as a professor. His work not only gave people around the world better vision of African culture, but also encouraged his own people to have confidence and pride in their own culture.

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“Nigeria is what it is because its leaders are not what they should be.”

- By Achebe

The quote simply shows that poor condition and poverty is due to corruption of the leaders. This also shows that Achebe was not only concentrating on his writing but he often interfered with Nigeria's political matter and often criticized the corrupted leaders.

“My position is that the Nobel Prize is important. But it is a European prize. It’s not an African prize...Literature is not a heavy weight championship. Nigerians may think you know, this man has been knocked out. It’s nothing to do with that.”

- By Achebe

This quote made by Achebe is saying that the Nobel Prize he got is very honorable to him. Achebe is saying that Nigerians may think that he, Achebe, has abandoned his African brothers and kneel down in front of Europeans. But he assures his people by explaining them that literature is not competition, and that there is no need to have sense of rivalry.

Often called, “The father of modern African writing” Announced lifetime achievement award from Man Booker. (2007) Showed the strength and quality of African literature to the world

What do you think Achebe is trying to say through the three books in “The African Trilogy?” Talk amongst your groups.

He was trying to remind people of the history of Africa, and he wanted people in outside world to know better about African culture and get rid of some biases, such as the European thoughts that African culture is not worthy enough to remember or consider.

Do you think it is better to keep remembering and reminding the sad history, such as Nigeria and Korea’s colonized history, or do you think it is better to forget about past and go on? Explain.

Possible answers: It is better to remind people about the

sad history, because history repeats itself and it is important for the people to prevent the sad moments from happening again by knowing what happened.

  It is better to forget about past, because

being angry about thing happened in past will distract people from normal lives.

What is the importance or benefits of keeping old tradition? What is the importance or benefits of changing? Which do you prefer?

Benefits of keeping old tradition is that we can remember our ancestors’ memories, and that we can have the sense of identity. Benefits of changing is that we can explore other stuff and replace the bad parts of old tradition with better one.

"Chinua Achebe." 26 Apr. 2009 <http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/achebe.htm>

  Chinua Achebe Quotes." Famous Quotes and Quotations at BrainyQuote.

26 Apr. 2009 <http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/c/chinua_achebe.html>.

  "Chinua Achebe: Things Fall Apart." 26 Apr. 2009

<http://wsu.edu/~brians/anglophone/achebe.html>.   “No Longer at Ease." Western Michigan University. 26 Apr. 2009

<http://www.wmich.edu/dialogues/texts/nolongeratease.htm>.   "Chinua Achebe Biography | Encyclopedia of World Biography

Biography." BookRags.com: Book Summaries, Study Guides. 26 Apr. 2009 <http://www.bookrags.com/biography/chinua-achebe/>.